Artist.......: Peter Von Poehl
Album........: May Day
Label........: T⌠t ou Tard
Genre........: Folk
Catnr........: 8345 10650 5
source.......: CDDA
rip.date.....: Mar-17-2009
str.date.....: Mar-16-2009
quality......: VBR/44,1Hz/Joint-Stereo
Url..........: http://www.petervonpoehl.com/
track title time
01. Parliament 03:25
02. Dust of Heaven 02:03
03. Forgotten Garden 03:27
04. Near the End of the World 02:51
05. Carrier Pigeon 03:12
06. Mexico 02:08
07. Mexico Part II 00:47
08. Moon Shot Falls 03:35
09. May Day 03:21
10. Wombara 02:45
11. Lost in Space 04:29
12. Silent as Gold 02:34
13. Elisabeth 04:42
14. An Eye for an Eye 02:31
Runtime 41:50 min
Size 53,1 MB
Release Notes:
For the traveller without a homeland or a fixed
identity, music can provide sweet consolation,
offering the chance to adopt a country based not in
geography but the imagination, a self-created
world. On Peter von PoehlÆs first album, Going to
Where the Tea Trees Are, the Swedish traveller who
for many years has split his life between Malm÷,
Berlin and Paris, conjured up the vague sense of
discomfort that can accompany this nomadic life,
one spent floating between different landscapes,
languages and cultures. The album saw him create a
universe all his own, a silky universe weaved with
the help of the golden threads of melody, delicate
sonic textures, and finely embroidered orchestral
motifs embroidered. Going to was a cosy cocoon, a
home-sweet-home in which this eternal foreigner, a
songwriter without a musical family (neither folk
nor pop nor rock) finally found a way to feel at
home. ôThe whole album was centred on virtually the
same theme,ö he remembers, ôso much so that that
directed all the musical choices û the melodies,
the arrangements, the general atmosphere. It was a
very æprivateÆ record, one I made at my own speed,
in my corner, without really taking into account
what was going on in the outside world. The record
allowed me to deal with all the questions I had
about my identity, which no longer seem so critical
today.ö
Peter von PoehlÆs exile blues has been cured thanks
to his music, which has built him a roof under
which he has been able to cultivate a well-adjusted
sensibility. Not that heÆs become a homebody û his
constant touring over the past few years has seen
him regularly leave his lair û but he has
understood that itÆs only good to hide away if you
then allow yourself the freedom to escape at a
momentÆs notice to (re)discover the world. May Day
embodies the jubilation of a man who, while
discovering the edges of his own universe, has not
been afraid to throw open the windows of his
inspiration. May Day is a constant, voluptuous
back-and-forth between the desire for an interior
world and that of projecting oneself out into the
exterior. You feel it immediately with Parliament,
a song whipped up by a wildly beating rhythm
section and horns played with gusto. All von
PoehlÆs virtues are on show: his classically
elegant sense of melody, his ideally dosed melanges
of instruments, his unique vocal touch, and his
intensely personal way of mixing together words and
sound. Yet the process through which all this is
revealed is different, quite simply because a
breath of fresh air has blown through Peter von
PoehlÆs music, which has become less hermetically
sealed.
The whole album is moved by new vibrations, which
increase the songsÆ intensity, even if theyÆve once
again been made by hand. Just like Going to Where
the Tea Trees Are, the majority of May Day was put
together in the middle of the Swedish countryside,
in Christoffer LundquistÆs marvellous studio. (A
longtime friend and collaborator, Lundquist is once
again credited as co-producer.) The arrangements on
May Day are bursting with discoveries you just know
were spontaneous, specific moments that grew
organically out of the sessions. The tight groove
of Carrier Pigeon, the irresistible pop whirlpool
of Moonshot Falls, the rough blueprints of Dust in
Heaven and Near the End of the World or the knowing
layering of instruments in the knock-out Elisabeth
all share the same sense of discovery and the same
taste for play, which stretch across all the parts
of von PoehlÆs unclassifiable songwriting. Utterly
resistant to gratuitous stylistic devices û from
the arrangements to the style, the rhythms to the
lyrics û everything on May Day is there to benefit
a musicality free of harmful gimmicks.
Even when he moves into more familiar territory,
such as the sublime, sweet-and-sour ballads
Forgotten Garden, Mexico, May Day and Silent as
Gold, Peter von Poehl appears driven by a new
strength, noticeable particularly in his singing,
which is more on show and forceful than before.
ItÆs a confidence he gained during the numerous
live shows that have punctuated the past three
years. ôIÆve done lots of solo concerts, especially
in Britain where itÆs not always easy to get
yourself heard,ö he explains, ôand because of that
IÆve probably placed more emphasis on intensity in
the new songs. I wanted to feel that there was
someone on the other end, someone listening. That
really wasnÆt a concern at the time of the first
album.ö Part of this drive towards an imagined
other has been achieved through the lyrics û as
seen, for example, in the song May Day. Inspired by
the scars left on his Berlin neighbourhood by a
particularly violent demonstration, the song
alludes to this deeply symbolic date for the
working class, while hinting at the memories and
mixed feelings that the musician associates with
this unique day, the synonym of the end of winter.
He has also handed over the responsibility of
certain lyrics for May Day û the album û to Marie
Modiano, whose subtly metaphoric poetry adds some
extra perspective to von PoehlÆs decidedly
subjective worldview. ôI first came across MarieÆs
lyrics in Berlin during the recording of her first
album in 2005, on which I played guitar,ö he says.
ôAn American friend, a drummer who was in charge of
getting all the musicians together, talked to me
about the texts in such glowing terms that I was
instantly curious and it turned out that that I was
completely receptive to her universe.ö The result
of their exchanges ended up being above and beyond
their hopes: ModianoÆs lyrics not only enriched the
poetic fabric of May Day, but also substantially
altered its musical complexion. ôI didnÆt know if
it was going to work,ö explains von Poehl, ôbecause
IÆm really quite difficult when people touch the
lyrics. But all my doubts disappeared when I saw
the results. It was a new and really exciting
experience for me.ö
This is how Peter von Poehl has managed to open up
the field of his self-expression without losing
view of the horizon where lie his feelings and
thoughts, and the result once again places him in a
distinct place in the current musical landscape.
The songs on May Day are an opportune reminder of
the fact that Peter von Poehl is one of these
creative people who plough their own furrow,
without worrying about their position in time or on
the musical scene, and who manage to create unique
art that never resorts to playing the card of
simplistic anti-conformity.